Now
by Moonglow gal
Summary: When Inuyasha listens to a particular song on Kagome's CD player, he finds himself thinking of how wonderful she is. Can the music convince him to reveal his feelings to her?


Now 

Hey! Songfic featuring Celine Dion's "Couldawouldashoulda", right this way, right this way, tickets are only one review upon exit! Step right up folks, this one's a doozy! See the half-demon as he tries to decide whether or not to confess his love to his miko companion!

By the way, this switches pretty rapidly between flashback and present, so flashbacks will be in Italics, and that's all the clue you're gonna get. Although most of it really happened. I think I made up one out of five or so. I'm pretty sure I totally screwed up the real scenes though. Oh well, you get the general idea. Oh, and lyrics will be in bold because this site is STOOPID!!

Disclaimer: I keep forgetting this stupid thing. Well...how should I say this...Okay. Let's do a little review. Who is the creator of Inuyasha the manga? Rumiko Takahashi. Who am I? A little-known fanfiction authoress who only writes for Inuyasha. What is one thing that Takahashi-san would not do as author of this series? Write fanfics about it, that's what. Therefore, I am not Rumiko Takahashi and, therefore again, I do not own Inuyasha.

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The sun was rising steadily in the sky, and a fine mist covered the ground. The tranquil sounds of morning filled the air...

"SIT!!!!"

WHAM!!!

"Ow, what was that for, wench?!"

A raven-haired girl stood over the hanyou, who apparently had a magnetic attraction to the ground. Her brown eyes flashed angrily as she screamed, "'What was that for?! WHAT WAS THAT FOR???!!!!' It's for your being a complete bonehead!!! I have to go home!!! Why can't you understand that, you idiot??!! I'll be back in three days, and if you come after me, I'll 's' word you to the center of the earth, and that's a long way to go!!"

"You have two days!"

"Noon on the third day!"

"Fine!"

She flung her yellow backpack on huffily. Without noticing the small object that fell from an open pocket, she jumped into the old dry well that would take her five hundred years into the future, back into the Information Age that she was supposed to live in.

Grumbling, the hanyou picked himself up. "Damn Kagome and that subduing spell of hers. Damn the future she always has to go to, especially that 'skule' thing of hers."

He noticed the object on the ground. 'It's that see-dee player.' Curious to see exactly what it did, he mimicked what Kagome did every time she had to study in the Feudal Era. He put the headphones over his fluffy dog-ears and pressed the exact same buttons she always did.

He winced as a blast of sound rang into his ears. He quickly removed the headphones and set them on the ground, then lay on his stomach not far from them. 'I can hear them fine from here. Stupid sensitive ears.' He stared at the headphone in surprise as a woman's voice emerged from it.

**Didja fall in love at the time or place?**

**Does it always have to move at it's own kind of pace?**

'You said it lady. It's all so confusing. I don't even know what I want to do with my life. Kagome or Kikyo? That is the evil, final question.'

**When you're drivin' on cruise control,**

**Comin' off the bumpy ride,**

**And your heart is back in shape,**

**Then it hits you with no chance to hide.**

'That's exactly what it was like. I just got over the fact that Kikyo had died, then Kagome came along. Why do women have to take men by surprise like that?'

**Don't you miss out on the way.**

**Don't find a reason to say,**

**"Couldawouldashoulda,**

**But I didn't do that."**

'Yeah. Just like Kikyo. If only I had seized my opportunity with her.' He closed his eyes, and let his mind drift, the song still floating in the air...

**You've gotta give it a shot,**

**Dare to believe.**

**Don't say you**

**Couldawouldashoulda.**

**"But I didn't do that."**

**Just throw in everything you've got,**

**Cuz in love there's no holdin' back.**

"_Is that why you hate me? Because I look like her?" A hand tugged on a lock of his silver hair, forcing him to look the owner in the eyes._

_He grabbed the hand, hurt coursing through him. "You've got it wrong..." he said quietly. Why had he never noticed how beautiful, how unique, Kagome's eyes were?_

'I swear, another moment like that, and I would've kissed her. And I didn't love her half as much then as I do now.'

**You tell me that you play it safe**

**Cuz you're afraid to hurt your neck**

**On this roller coaster trip,**

**Never knowing what you'll get.**

_A feeling of ecstasy spread through his body as he stared at his foe's remains. 'Must kill more!' his blood screamed, drowning out the voice inside that had always stopped him from killing defenseless enemies, the voice that demonstrated how soft the core of his heart was. He turned to the defenseless children couching behind him. He growled._

"_Inuyasha!"_

_He spun and saw Kagome, face honestly expressing the fear his demon form brought out in her. "Kagome, stay away!"_

'_Kill! Kill!'_

"_When I'm like this, I don't know what I might do!" 'No! Must not harm the humans, or the small demons!'_

'_Yes, yes, rip, tear, kill!'_

_To his horror, Kagome stepped toward him. 'Yes! You see, the prey offers itself! Kill! Kill!! KILL!!'_

'Oh god, if it weren't for Kagome's quick thinking, I could've murdered and even...' he shuddered, '...eaten her.'

**If you wanna be cynical on the date of destiny,**

**Givin' up the greatest rush,**

**Who knows what it turns out to be?**

_A human Inuyasha lay on the ground, barely alive after Myoga had managed to suck out the spider demon's venom. Kagome sat beside him, mopping the sweat off his face. _

_He looked up at her. Her eyes were red. She said that she had been crying because she was afraid he would die. He said weakly, "Your lap. Will you lend me your lap?"_

"_Uh...sure." She shifted onto her knees, and placed Inuyasha's head on her thighs. "Better?"_

"_Yeah." A moment of silence of silence passed. "You...you smell nice." His head was starting to spin. The danger of being poisoned had passed, but he was exhausted._

"_Eh?! But I thought you said that you hate my scent!"_

_He shifted slightly. Big mistake. The floor tipped, and he felt the darkness of exhausted sleep coming to swallow him. "Well, I was lying..."_

'Wow, talk about idiocy. Cozying up to her when a demon could've burst in on us at any time. Why am I only capable of being really nice to her when I'm a human?'

**Don't you miss out on the way.**

**Don't find a reason to say,**

**"Couldawouldashoulda,**

**But I didn't do that."**

"_Kagome!" A month later, Inuyasha burst into the kitchen of the dreaded Peach Man (AN: The dreaded Peach Man? Oh, please. Makes him sound like a mushy old man who bores you to death with stories of the good old days). He saw Kagome in a pot of boiling sake. Around the pot (big enough to be a bathtub), small animals bustled around and added vegetable and spices to it. It would've been quite amusing if Kagome weren't about to be eaten, and if he weren't close to bleeding to death._

"_Inuyasha!" She watched as he killed or scared off all the little servants, then stood to run to him._

_He blushed and turned around, his brain registering the fact that she was naked._

"_Eek!" She ducked back into the sake, blushing even more furiously than he was._

_After an awkward pause, he pulled off his haori and threw in her direction. "Put that on. No matter how much the blood stains disgust you."_

_She hesitated, then touched his shoulder. He turned despite himself. She stood before him, clutching the clothing in front of her. She smelled like a drunk, but her words were comforting and perfectly sober sounding. "I could never be disgusted by _your_ blood."_

'She's always been so nice to me. Even when I'm horrible to her, it's like she will always forgive me.'

**You've gotta give it a shot,**

**Dare to believe.**

**Don't say you**

**Couldawouldashoulda.**

**"But I didn't do that."**

**Just throw in everything you've got,**

**Cuz in love there's no holdin' back.**

"_Kagome! Get your butt over here!" Inuyasha raced through the village and almost crashed into the object of his search._

"_What? What is it?"_

"_There's a hawk demon terrorizing a nearby village, and it just carried off a baby! We have to catch it!"_

"_Okay, one sec!" Kagome ran into Kaede's hut and ran back out with her bow and arrows._

_"Come on!" He grabbed for her arm to toss her onto his back, but she had just extended it to climb on herself. The result: he grabbed her hand. He quickly pulled her on, trying not to let her see that his face was beet red._

He sighed. 'Why did I let her go so quickly? Okay, given that she probably would've 'sat' me to the other side of the world, but still... and I've held her hand before...but not like a spontaneous gesture. It was an accident.'

**It's meant to be...**

**Don't think about it...**

**Let love run free...**

**Cuz you're on your way...**

'I wish I could just tell her. I wish I could 'not think about it'. But I can't do that. I mean, what if she hates me? She probably only sees an immature little snob when she looks at me. The only reason she's staying is that, as a miko, she has a responsibility to find the Jewel.'

**Follow your heart where it's calling on you...**

**Don't you say...**

**"But I didn't do that,**

**I didn't do that, baby."**

**You gotta believe it.**

'I don't want to regret my choice. But it seems that I will either way, if I tell her or not. If only I knew how she felt about me. Well, I probably know already. Judging by her attitude this morning.'

**"Couldawouldashoulda,**

**But I didn't do that."**

**You've gotta give it a shot,**

**Dare to believe.**

**Don't say you**

**Couldawouldashoulda.**

**"But I didn't do that.**

**Just throw in everything you've got,**

**Cuz in love there's no holdin' back.**

'Ugh, I don't know. I really don't want to be hurt, but it hurts already that she thinks I have no...emotional purpose for her. She's not a tool to me. She's a person, a woman. The woman I love.'

**"Couldawouldashoulda,**

**But I didn't do that."**

**You've gotta give it a shot,**

**Dare to believe.**

**Don't say you**

**Couldawouldashoulda.**

**"But I didn't do that."**

**Just throw in everything you've got,**

**Cuz in love there's no holdin' back.**

'And then, of course, there's Kikyo. But I don't love her that way anymore. She was just like a crush that went really deep. I love her, but not the way she wants me to. It all fell apart when we held back. I can't live with her. I can't become human for her anymore. Although I would for Kagome. Yes, anything for Kagome.'

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On the third day, when Kagome was due to come back, Inuyasha perched himself on the branch of a tree near the well. He sighed as he readied himself for his ritual of yelling at her for having to go home.

His ear twitched. There was scuffling in the well, which meant...yes, there was Kagome, clambering up the vines that grew straight up to the opening. His heart skipped a beat, then he prepared to leap in front of her and begin his tirade. But he stopped when he heard her begin to sing.

**"Couldawouldashoulda,**

**But I didn't do that."**

**You've gotta give it a shot,**

**Dare to believe.**

**Don't say you**

**Couldawouldashoulda.**

**"But I didn't do that."**

**Just throw in everything you've got,**

**Cuz in love there's no holdin' back.**

'Her voice is beautiful,' he mused. He stared at her, then his gaze firmed. 'That's it. I have to tell her. I need to know how she feels about me, and it's torture to not have her know how much she matters to me.'

He leaped down and held out Kagome's CD player. "You forgot this. Listen, I was trying out, and I heard this song, and it made me think..."

"About what?" She looked up at him, a little shocked that he wasn't yelling at her.

"Um..." The song echoed through his head again. 'I have to tell her. From what I learned from Kikyo, anything could happen at anytime. The only sure time is now. I have now to tell her, to see if she really hates me or not. You've only got now Inuyasha.'

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I think you can figure out what happens next, especially if you've read my past one-shots (currently all Inu/Kag). They confess, they're all happy, they kiss, they live happily ever after. Blahblahblah. Okay, so it's actually very sweet, but a little cliché.

I have two ideas for one-shots that have nothing to do with real romance. One is about Onigumo's transformation into Naraku, and the other is Inu thinking about how much he hates Naraku (okay, a little simple-minded sounding, but it goes a little deeper than that).

Um, except for reminding you to review, that's it. Bye!...Review!...Good God, I just realized that this baby's six and a half pages long. Scary!


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